Wakefield Museums and Castles

Close-up of liquorice allsorts design on a blue background on some vintage liquorice sweets packaging

Liquorice and sweets

Pontefract and Castleford are home to some important confectionery industries.

Liquorice has deep roots in Pontefract. The local soil is perfect for growing the plant. Growers have been harvesting liquorice since the medieval period.

In the 1700s liquorice garths were cropping up all over the town. When local chemist George Dunhill first added sugar to liquorice, the Pontefract Cake was born. It became a delicacy all over the world.

By the 1900s liquorice was big business. Pontefract had 13 different factories producing all sorts of sweet treats.

The sweet success spread and confectioners set up in Castleford too. Local factories made many famous sweets and chocolates.

Find out more through a selection of objects and stories from our collections.

Find out more

Two male liquorice farmers stood in a deep trench in a field

Pontefract Allsorts: How liquorice got its roots in Pontefract

Why is Pontefract linked to liquorice? How did it get here? Find out this and more!
A child looking into a display case containing liquorice scales and a wicker basket on top of them

Liquorice scales, Avery, 1890 - 1920

Local liquorice growers weighed their crops on these scales. Find out how the industry changed as demand grew.
A wooden handled liquorice stamp with a design of the castle and Dunhill's on the stamp

Liquorice stamp, Dunhill's Ltd, early 1900s

This stamp gave the famous Pontefract Cakes their iconic design. Discover the story of Pontefract’s most popular export.
Close-up of a clockface with Taylor Pontefract on it

Dunhill's factory clock, Thomas Taylor, 1820 - 1850

Liquorice workers would have clocked on and off according to this locally made timepiece.
A grandfather clock shaped tin with green, gold and black design and a grandfather clock design on the front stopped at eight o clock

After Eights tin, Nestle Rowntree, 1990s

Did you know Castleford used to be home to Britain’s favourite after dinner mint? Find out more about the town’s sweet success.
Close-up of vintage sweets from the 1970s in a metal tin

Selection box, Rowntree Mackintosh Ltd, 1978

Workers at Rowntree Mackintosh in Castleford received this special celebration tin in 1978.
A vintage Wilkinson's Pontefract Cakes delivery van outside a garage

More objects

Discover hundreds more liquorice objects in our Online Collections database.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to our newsletters to get our latest updates, events and exhibitions sent straight to your inbox.

Subscribe